Vefhringur 
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
22.04.2009
And the Icelandic woman got a voice...
This exhibition is dedicated to women's journals and magazines in Iceland. The oldest magazine still in existence is Húsfreyjan which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
Special interest is dedicated to the pioneer editor and journalist, the writer and artist Torfhildur Þorsteinsdóttir Hólm. Torfhildur published the yearly Draupnir in 1891 which contained "a collection of fiction and true stories etc." as the title page declares. Occasionally there would be articles on the movement for women's rights in America as Torfhildur lived and worked in Canada for a while.
In 1901-1917 Torfhildur edited the monthly Dvöl where she published translated stories and articles, but also practical advice, food recipes and instructions for texture crafts. She also published a magazine for children.
The exhibition contains several items from Torfhildur's estate including a table, a shawl and pillow she embroidered and beaded. It also has examples of her manuscripts and decorative floral designs.
The exhibition also displays the typewriter of women's rights activist Laufey Valdimarsdóttir, the daughter of pioneer Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir, and letters she wrote on it to the foreign ministry for her journey to the convention of the International Women's Alliance in Geneva in 1945, a journey on which she died.
The exhibition
on facebook
on myspace